Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Oct. 26, 1992, edition 1 / Page 5
Part of Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
- .- . -, , . The Daily Tar HeelMonday, October 26, 19925 IE tKing of T-shirts: UNC graduate sued by Budweiser wins lawsuit By LeAnn Spradling 'Staff Writer Michael Berard now drinks Miller (Lite. In 1989, Anheuser-Busch, the mak ' ers of Budweiser beer, brought a copy .Iright lawsuit against Berard, a 1990 'UNC graduate who designed and sold T-shirts that parodied the Budweiser vtrademark. Berard finally won the case after a hard-fought court battle. He came up with the idea for the -'.shirts when he noticed the popularity of other T-shirts that parodied well-known sslogans and trademarks. He drew the ' original design for the shirts, which featured a mock Budweiser logo with - the words "This beach is for you" on the back. On the front was the name of the beach and the slogan "King of Beaches." i. Berard contacted a lawyer in 1987 - and described the T-shirt design. The -lawyer told him that there should be no copyright problems with the shirts. "Copyright laws are a gray area," 'Berard said. "There aren't enough cases to know where the line is drawn." '' ' Soon Berard's idea was doing so 'well Berard had sold $14,000 worth of shirts by fall of 1988 that he incorporated himself as Venture Mar keting and copyrighted the T-shirts. He ' made a deal with the L.L. Wings store to '-sell the shirts in Myrtle Beach. Berard's good fortune ended in 1989 when Anheuser-Busch discovered the -trademark parody. The conglomerate '-sued L.L. Wings and Venture Market ing for copyright infringement, claim 'ing that the similarities between the T " shirts and the Budweiser trademarks could confuse consumers about who had produced the shirts. A private investigator, a U.S. mar-i-shal and an Anheuser-Busch lawyer, armed with a court order, raided Berard's home and his mother's office supply store, seizing 200 T-shirts and Berard's business records. About 4,000 more shirts were seized from L.L. Wings. "I was immediately thrown into a 'turmoil," Berard said. Because his mother was the vice president of Ven . ture Marketing, he was worried about the courts seizing his parents' assets. He also was concerned about legal fees since L.L. Wings was also being sued and could not release the $27,000 it owed him. . ' "I knew (Anheuser-Busch) had deep , pockets," Berard said. "Most people (in cases like this) roll over before it ever goes to court." 'But Jiefard decided to settle the case in court. "I felt like I was 'right-and thatJthe lawyers I had Were 'very good." " The trial date fell in the middle of 'Berard's senior exam schedule, but most -Of his professors waived his exams so he could attend the trial. The case was first heard in Florence, - S.C., and the jury ruled in Berard's favor. But nine months later, the judge - in the trial, Weston Houck, overturned ' the jury's verdict. '.' Berard appealed his case to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Rich--mond, Va. Thecourt reinstated the jury's verdict in a 2-1 decision on the grounds that the members of the jury were more Fir v 613 West Franklin Street Cfc7.i! Hill, North Carolina l'Hns welcome. Reservations ssceplsd. Call 929-7643 f 6i,2.:3$ daily.- Paite o; ra, vt. sr ttermitting. Bar 4 Dlnlt Soom open frsry aI Suniiay brunch 1Q:30am-2pm. CELLAR DOOR PRESENTS with very special guests DALEilllOB is&Wi!) RALEIGH CIVIC CENTER TUESDAY NOVEMBER 10 8:00 PM ON SALE NOW TICKETS AVAILABLE AT VENUE BOX OFFICE, AND ALL ""ffggg? OUTLETS (9 1 9) 8 34-4000 OR Michael Berard displays the design that representative of the average consumer. Anheuser-Busch appealed the ver dict to the full court of appeals, which refused to hear the case. The company then appealed to the Supreme Court. "I felt strongly that (the Supreme Court) would not hear the case because it's not a national-type issue," Berard said. "I felt strongly that we would win, but I was pretty concerned and anxious to know." The Supreme Court did refuse to hear the case, so after three years Berard was finally vindicated. Berard graduated from UNC with a degree in economics and now works as a financial adviser in Durham. He is not planning to get back into the T-shirt business. ' "I'm really happy with what I'm do ing at this point," he said. "The (T-shirt) business may start up again, but I won't be running it." Berard and his lawyer plan an imme diate countersuit against Anheuser Busch for damages and court costs. His legal fees and court costs were lessened because he shared costs with L.L. Wings, but he estimates his total costs are still somewhere between $40,000 and $70,000. 'T ve learned a heck of a lot in law, .. . what to do and what not to do, what to expect, and sometimes who to trust and who not to trust. "I'm much more careful when it If! i.i Lj L V,. 7;i si OR CHARGE BY PHONE (9 1 9) 852-1 1 00 1 ' ' t'' j Nap Head j DTHErin Randall spurred a lawsuit by Anheuser-Busch comes to business. I really pay attention to details more and make sure I have everything written down." Berard does not regret making the shirts. "I went about it in the right man ner everything was legal," he said. "My work and my T-shirts were of number one quality." Berard's words of wisdom for stu dent entrepreneurs: "You can win against a giant corporation worth bil lions of dollars even though you're a small company that started on $500 borrowed from a grandparent." STV aims to By Lloyd Whittington Staff Writer Imagine coming home, grabbing a snack and flipping to a channel that caters specifically to college students. A channel important enough that watch ing it becomes a regular part of the day. Student Television, or STV, plans to do just that over the next few years. "We want to bring STV into students' lives on a regular basis," said station man ager and senior Geoff Newman. "We will continue to produce shows for people to watch, but we also want to see it become a mass media for informa tion on college life and events, like the DTH is now," he said. STV is a student-run organization that writes and produces five shows on a semi-regular basis on cable channels in Chapel Hill and Carrboro. It airs on cable channel 1 1 in Chapel Hill from 6 p.m. to 1 1 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thurs days and on cable channel 4 in Carrboro from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesdays. Among the shows are "General Col lege," "Carolina News," "Off the Cuff," "Not Quite Midnight" and a brand new show titled "Tongue-Tied," which will premiere in December. "General College," a comedy-drama about student life, is probably the most recognized, Newman said. Three to six years ago, "General College" was broad cast nationally on a college network, he said. "But it got so big that it became tough to find students that could be that dedicated year after year." "Carolina News" is a 30-minute weekly review of campus and commu nity events, said the program's co-pro iKHmrtuira Your student organization can earn up to $1,500 in just one week sponsoring a marketing program for a Fortune 500 Company. NO SALES NO INVESTMENT BUILD TEAM WORK HAVE FUNI You are invited to attend a Presentation on Investment Banking Tuesday, October 27, 1992 4:00 p.m. The Club Room Carolina Inn All undergraduates are invited to join Lehman Brothers Corporate Finance Professionals Reception Lehman Brothers be daily part of UNG life ducer Beth Meckley, who spends five' to 1 0 hours each week just preparing the show. Production itself is done between midnight and 6 a.m. Mondays, the only time Peabody Hall is available for use. The format is much like that of net work news broadcasts, with two an chors and a sports anchor, Meckley said. "Our shows aren't as timely, but we try to make them as professional as other news broadcasts." "Off the Cuff ' is a random mixture of comedy skits, while "Not Quite Mid night" is a comedy talk show. 'Tongue-Tied," the newest addition, is about a small-town detective who goes to a darker, more dangerous ver sion of Chapel Hill in search of work, said show producer Jason Boyd. Strug gling to find a job, the detective be comes a janitor in a mental hospital and falls in love with one of the residents. Incidentally, Boyd, the show's creator, is a junior psychology and radio, televi sion and motion pictures major. Newman wants to see STV expand its scope. "For eight years, STV has been just producing shows, and we could continue doing that for years to come, but we would be just a means for people to produce shows and get experience. We would have no real impact on the campus." Current plans to put cable in dorm rooms in the next few years could play a major role in increasing viewership, especially considering that STV is currently available only to off campus residents, Newman said. The size of STV's viewing audience is difficult to gauge because viewers are all off campus, Newman said. "We have a lot of people to say 'I saw your show jmnhvrt.ii'iinri&iririi to follow the other night,' but there is really no way of measuring it" The station is now in the process of moving from three rooms in the Student Union to a much larger space two floors down, Newman said. "We want to rum it into a real studio and station." The station's day-to-day operating costs are financed through student fees, Newman said. Some fees also go to ward updating equipment that was pur chased five to eight years ago through student referendums and allocated stu dent fees, he said. "It's going to be expensive to do what we want to do, but we are explor ing company donations and fund-raisers as ways to pay for the changes," Newman said. To raise money, STV is offering to film events and produce commercials for campus organizations at cheap rates, he said. "We're also looking into the logistics of running ads on air time for local businesses." STV produces on three-fourths-inch video tape that rarely is used by other stations, Newman said. "It's old, very bulky and breaks more often, causing the quality to be less than other produc tions. We'll never be network quality, but the better we get, the better the aesthetic following we'll have." : The STV staff consists of about 15 See STV, page 7 Take control of your job search. JMF Information Services has completed an up-to-date listing of every registered Brokerage firm in the U.S., over21Kl firms. Package includes: Company names, profiles, addresses and descriptions of career opportu nities. Also included are con tact riairiesofPersonnelDirect and Department Heads along with phone 's. Indicate geo graphic region of interested employment and send $17.50 check payable to JMF Infor mation Services, 175 East 96th St., (room 3p), NYC 10128. Include self-address. , !
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Oct. 26, 1992, edition 1
5
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75